


#5: From Himself

by Winchester_Writer



Series: 10 Times Tony Stark Saved Peter Parker and 2 Times He Couldn't [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-11 20:15:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20159452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winchester_Writer/pseuds/Winchester_Writer
Summary: Sometimes even the great Iron Man makes mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes can be fixed and sometimes he needs to save the people he hurt. This time, he needs to save both himself and the person he hurt.





	#5: From Himself

Tony was in a bad place, he wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was. It was a couple of months after Germany and things were going okay. The one good thing that came from the whole ordeal was that he met Peter Parker. Tony would also never admit this, but Peter Parker had saved him. The kid was a genius, his work on robotics far superior to anyone he had ever met before. Not to mention, Peter was the nicest, most amazing kid he had ever met. He started inviting Peter over to the lab twice a week to work with him and he always looked forward to those days. Peter Parker had saved Tony Stark just as much as Tony Stark had saved Peter Parker. 

It was a lab day and apparently the press had caught wind of the fact that Peter was now, "interning" for Stark Industries. An image had leaked online, it was Tony and Peter sharing a hug when he sent Peter home one day after a particularly bad panic attack. It had gone viral and the news was going nuts. Titles like,

**"Does Tony Stark Have a Secret Son?" **

**"Is Tony Stark Qualified to Be a Father?" **

**"Is Tony Stark Ready for Parenthood?" **

**"Tony Stark: Genius, Billionaire, Deadbeat Dad?" **

**"Will Tony Stark Follow in the Footsteps of Unqualified Father?" **

had emerged and the list went on and on. With each article he read, Tony's anxiety grew larger and larger. He was insecure about his ability to be a good role model and the articles were just increasing it. What was really pushing him over however, was the fact that Peter had called him Dad a week ago. 

Tony thought it was a fluke and was all for it, until reading these articles. He was anxious, nervous, questioning everything about what was going on. He could feel the anxiety welling up in his chest, a panic attack looming over him. That's when Peter walked in and made everything ten times worse. 

"Hey, Mr. Stark!" 

"Hey." 

"Have you seen the articles? I'm so sorry, Mr. Stark, I didn't realize the press would find out that I'm interning for you!" 

"It's fine, Peter." 

His heart was pounding in his chest now. Tony didn't know what he wanted to do, he felt trapped, but also wanted to run far, far away. 

"No it's not, Mr. Stark. I should have been more careful, you didn't have to walk with me that day. I'm sorry about all this. What if they find out I'm Spiderman?" 

The anxiety and panic spilled over, disguising itself as rage. 

"Then they find out! Do you really think I care? You're just a child, Peter! You have no reputation, no responsibilities. I however, do! This could easily ruin my image in the public. The press getting ahold of this could be one of the worst things to ever happen to me!" 

Peter paled at Tony's loud tone and visibly shrunk. 

"I'm so sorry, Mister Stark." 

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Peter! You know what, I'm gonna need your I.D. card back. You're officially banned from Stark Tower." 

"But, Mr. Stark," Peter was shaking now, tears threatening to spill over. 

"No. No buts Peter. You ruined everything. Now give me the card and go home." 

"Mr. Stark, I'm sorry." 

"I said, go home!"

Peter fished the card out of his pocket and dropped it onto the table, then turned away and ran out of the lab. Both men were shaking at this point. Peter was stumbling down the stairs of Stark Tower and Tony had fallen down against the back wall in the lab, shaking violently. 

Peter couldn't breathe, neither could Tony. Peter ran out of Stark Tower and headed straight for home. He ran, legs shaking, lungs quivering in his chest, tears streaming down his face. He threw open the door to his apartment and ran right into May. 

"Peter? Pete, what's wrong?" 

"He took it, May, he took it." 

"Took what?" 

"My I.D. card. He doesn't want me at the tower, he doesn't want to see me ever again." 

"Shh, shh, it's okay." 

Tony sat against the wall, tears streaking his face, panic thrumming in his chest and head. Stupid, he was so stupid. He couldn't fix this one, he couldn't. He told the kid to get lost, to leave and don't come back. He had turned into his father. 

Tony let out a choked sob and banged his head against the wall. 

"What have I done, Karen?" 

It was two days later and Peter was still in shock over everything that happened. He walked the halls of school with an empty stare, he barely said a word to Ned, and he was distant in all of his classes. He walked home the same way and sat down on his bed. He fell backwards and looked up at the ceiling, sighing. A knock at the door pulled him out of his thoughts. Peter got up and slowly walked over to the door. He opened and started to talk, but then stopped. None other than Happy Hogan was standing at his door. 

"Uh, hey Happy. What are you doing here?" 

"Tony sent me." 

A glimmer of hope sparked in Peter. 

"Oh, does he want to see me?" 

"No, actually. He wanted me to pick something up." 

"What?" 

"He wants the suit back, Peter." 

"No, Happy, no! You can't take the suit." 

"I'm sorry kid. But Tony made the suit and he wants it back. Don't make this any harder on me, please Pete." 

Peter walked away from the door, he was numb. Not only did Mr. Stark not want to see him, but he also didn't want to see Spiderman anymore. He walked into his room and closed the case that held his suit. Peter trudged back to Happy and handed over the suit. Tears formed in his eyes as Happy grabbed the case from him. 

"I'm sorry, Pete. I don't know what happened, but I tried to persuade him not to take the suit." 

"Yeah. Thank for trying, Happy." 

The security guard nodded and then walked away from the door. Peter closed it and fell onto the couch, screaming and crying into one of the pillows. 

Tony was shaking constantly, his anxiety constantly buzzing in his head. Happy had just dropped the suit on his desk with a sigh and disdainful glare. It had been two days and Peter hadn't attempted to contact him in anyway. Tony asked Karen to monitor his phone at all times, just in case he needed help at any point. 

It had been two weeks since everything had happened with Mr. Stark and he hadn’t talked to him since then. Peter was patrolling in his old, homemade suit for the first time since the whole ordeal. His head was out of the game, too focused on everything that had happened with Mr. Stark. He got into a tussle with some muggers and ended up getting punched one too many times. He was disoriented and lost count of how many webs he had left. With the suit Mr. Stark gave him, the webs would replenish themselves, but that wasn't the case with his homemade suit. All of a sudden, he was falling, 40 stories down, and he was powerless to stop it. He desperately tried to cling onto the building or a window, or a balcony. He was scared, this isn't how he wanted to die. The ground was getting closer and closer. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable, saying a silent "I love you, May." 

The impact however, never came. Instead, someone grabbed him by his shoulders and hoisted him up. He looked up to see an Iron Man suit had caught him. The suit took him to the nearest rooftop and set him down. Peter didn't say anything, just ripped off his mask and breathed. After a couple of minutes the suit talked. 

"What, no thank you?" 

Peter ignored him. 

"Come on, kid. Talk to me." 

Peter's rage boiled over. 

"Talk to you? Talk to you?! The one who kicked me out, the one who yelled at me and told me I messed everything up just because some nosy reporters took a picture! So I don't care what you think, call me disrespectful or selfish or ungrateful, but I have nothing more to say to you." 

"Kid,"

"Don't kid me, Mr. Stark! If you actually, truly cared about me, just a little bit, then you would be here, not just send some empty metal suit." 

The suit opened up and Tony stepped out, hair disheveled and eyes red and puffy. Peter took a step back and looked at Tony. 

"I'm here kid, I'm here." 

"Mr. Stark?" Peter choked out, tears forming again. 

"I'm so sorry, Pete. I was so wrong. I screwed up bad." 

Peter was hugging him within seconds and Tony realized that he didn't deserve this kid. 

"It's okay, Mr. Stark." 

"No it's not. Come here, Pete." 

Tony walked over to the edge of the roof and sat down, legs dangling over the edge. Peter followed suit and sat next to Tony. They sat in silence for a couple of seconds before Tony finally spoke. 

"You know, my old man wasn't the world's best dad. He was kind of absent and cold and when he did talk to me, it was never anything good. I've been so worried about turning into him, that I'd become work obsessed, drive away everyone who loved me. I was so caught up in making sure I didn't turn into the same man he was, I turned into him as a father. I know I'm not your dad, but sometimes I act like it and I realized that I'm exactly like my father. When I read those articles, I was scared. I know, the great Iron Man got scared, shocking. But I did. I was afraid that I wasn't doing this whole thing right. I was scared and nervous and I used anger as a way to cope. I should have never said a word that I did. I should have never taken the I.D. or the suit. I'm so sorry, Pete." 

"Mr. Stark, it's okay. I was scared too. But I was more scared that you left me like that. I thought you hated me." 

"Oh, Pete, I could never hate you. You're the best thing to ever happen in my life, after Pepper of course." 

Peter laughed and then leaned into Tony. 

"Is everything okay now?" 

"Well, if you accept my apology and take your suit back, then everything should be all good. I'm sorry Pete." 

"It's okay, we all make mistakes."

“Yeah, even the great Iron Man, huh?’

“Even the great, Iron Man.”

The two sat on the rooftop for a while and then Tony took Peter home, dropping him and his Spider-suit off on the doorstep. Peter said goodbye and that he looked forward to the lab day tomorrow. He closed the door with a smile and jumped up and down.

On the flight back to Stark Tower, Tony’s heart was no longer thumping in his chest. His nerves were no longer going crazy and his breath had evened out. He was okay now, he got his kid back. 

Peter showed up at the lab the next day, he was right on time and Tony chuckled as Peter threw his backpack, yelled “hey Mr. Stark,” and tripped over the door all at the same time. Peter stumbled and then stood up straight, blushing a little at his clumsiness. 

“Hey Underoos! Good to have you back.”

“Good to be back!” 

The two worked in silence for a long time, rock music blaring in the background. Finally, it was time for Peter to head home. 

“See you later, Mr. Stark.”

“Bye kid, stay safe!”

“I will. Bye dad, see you soon!”

Once again, Tony was left with his mouth gaping as Peter ran out of the lab. His mouth slowly closed and a large smile formed. 

“That’s my, kid,” he thought, “the one who I saved and the one who saved me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This is my first ever fanfiction so any comments, kudos, or feedback would be so, so very appreciated!!
> 
> Hi everyone! So this is the part of the series that I am really, really nervous to post. I don't know how people are gonna respond to this or if it's even good in any way. I may end up deleting this one, because I honestly don't think people are gonna like this. So um, if you liked it, maybe leave it in the comments. If you don't like that, say that too, please.


End file.
